Time Traveling with a Hamster
- Downloads：6377
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-05-21 06:58:52
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Ross Welford
- ISBN：1524714364
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Back to the Future meets The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in this original， poignant， race-against-time story about a boy who travels back to 1984 to save his father's life。
My dad died twice。 Once when he was thirty-nine and again four years later， when he was twelve。 On his twelfth birthday， Al Chaudhury receives a letter from his dead father。 It directs him to the bunker of their old house， where Al finds a time machine （an ancient computer and a tin bucket）。 The letter also outlines a mission: travel back to 1984 and prevent the go-kart accident that will eventually take his father's life。 But as Al soon discovers， whizzing back thirty years requires not only imagination and courage， but also lying to your mom， stealing a moped， and setting your school on fire--oh， and keeping your pet hamster safe。 With a literary edge and tons of commerical appeal， this incredible debut has it all: heart， humor， vividly imagined characters， and a pitch-perfect voice。
From the Hardcover edition。
My dad died twice。 Once when he was thirty-nine and again four years later， when he was twelve。 On his twelfth birthday， Al Chaudhury receives a letter from his dead father。 It directs him to the bunker of their old house， where Al finds a time machine （an ancient computer and a tin bucket）。 The letter also outlines a mission: travel back to 1984 and prevent the go-kart accident that will eventually take his father's life。 But as Al soon discovers， whizzing back thirty years requires not only imagination and courage， but also lying to your mom， stealing a moped， and setting your school on fire--oh， and keeping your pet hamster safe。 With a literary edge and tons of commerical appeal， this incredible debut has it all: heart， humor， vividly imagined characters， and a pitch-perfect voice。
From the Hardcover edition。
Reviews
Cheryl has hopes her life will calm down soonish
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Ok， I like kids' books， and Time Travel， and light-hearted （as this cover implies）。But this just didn't work well enough imo。 See the review by TheBookSmugglers for why， as they say it much better than I can。 https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。 Ok， I like kids' books， and Time Travel， and light-hearted （as this cover implies）。But this just didn't work well enough imo。 See the review by TheBookSmugglers for why， as they say it much better than I can。 https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。 。。。more
Julia
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I would round this book up from a 4。5。 What I liked about this story was it was fun spin on an old classic story。 It kept us guessing and was a nice fresh fun ride even for an adult to read with a child。 I wanted to read ahead many a time but I was patient and waited for my kiddo。 Welford is one of our new favorite authors。
Trisha
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i can't express how much i love this book。 this was incredible。 i can't express how much i love this book。 this was incredible。 。。。more
Hina
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5 stars I really liked this book！ I liked everything about it: the plot， the characters and especially the hamster。 Actually， I read this book only because it was about hamsters - it wasn't exactly about hamsters they were barely mentioned but you get it - because I had a hamster who died a month ago and I still can't get over his death， so I wanted a book about hamsters。 I found this one by mistake and it was the best mistake I've ever made！ I'll definitely read more books by Ross Welford。High 5 stars I really liked this book！ I liked everything about it: the plot， the characters and especially the hamster。 Actually， I read this book only because it was about hamsters - it wasn't exactly about hamsters they were barely mentioned but you get it - because I had a hamster who died a month ago and I still can't get over his death， so I wanted a book about hamsters。 I found this one by mistake and it was the best mistake I've ever made！ I'll definitely read more books by Ross Welford。Highly recommend it！！ 。。。more
Sneha
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Time travelling with a hamster really was a rollercoaster。 From breaking and entering to changing the past，present and future you don’t really believe that this is all a 12-year-old’s doing。 But honestly Al is not an ordinary 12-year-old。 He managed to get a basic understanding of some of the most complex theories which is an amazing feat in itself。 And then he successfully time travelled multiple times。 And he managed to keep a hamster alive - I would not be able to do that。 Also I loved grandp Time travelling with a hamster really was a rollercoaster。 From breaking and entering to changing the past，present and future you don’t really believe that this is all a 12-year-old’s doing。 But honestly Al is not an ordinary 12-year-old。 He managed to get a basic understanding of some of the most complex theories which is an amazing feat in itself。 And then he successfully time travelled multiple times。 And he managed to keep a hamster alive - I would not be able to do that。 Also I loved grandpa Byron。 And I felt so sad whenever he was sad。 But I was really happy whenever he was happy。 Which was a lot after a point。 。。。more
Kerb
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I enjoyed the first half of this book despite the hamster feeling forced。 However I feel that a more bittersweet ending with Al coming to terms with his father's death after not being able to prevent it would have been more emotional and a better message。 I enjoyed the first half of this book despite the hamster feeling forced。 However I feel that a more bittersweet ending with Al coming to terms with his father's death after not being able to prevent it would have been more emotional and a better message。 。。。more
Juan Pablo
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El libro es buenísimo， la trama te engancha y no es tan largo。 El problema soy yo jajsjs por la universidad casi no pude leerlo constantemente pero aún dejándolo a un lado por dos meses （más o menos） supo engancharme de nuevo y ahora quiero saber qué más pasa :（ el final es bueno， no voy a dar spoilers。 Al Chaudhury te has ganado un espacio en my heart ❤️
Serena Q
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I want to give it 4。5The reason I didn't give it 5 stars was that it was really confusing and it didn't really explain what time it was for every event。 Actually， time travelling back and forth is meant to be confusing， right？ Maybe I should give it a 5。BTW， I never new that Pye stands for Pythagorus。 It's a cool name， isn't it？ The hamster in the book （Alan Shearer） sounds so cute😍 I want to give it 4。5The reason I didn't give it 5 stars was that it was really confusing and it didn't really explain what time it was for every event。 Actually， time travelling back and forth is meant to be confusing， right？ Maybe I should give it a 5。BTW， I never new that Pye stands for Pythagorus。 It's a cool name， isn't it？ The hamster in the book （Alan Shearer） sounds so cute😍 。。。more
Gordon
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cool book and alot of things with time travelling the characters are intriguing and the plot is interesting
Angie Braaten
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Time travel will always boggle my mind。 Loved many parts of this， but a bit overboard with unbelievability at times。 Solid middle grade novel and a definite page turner。
Laura Heath
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very goodA really enjoyable read。 Lovely characters and an interesting exploration of time travel and its consequences without getting too technical。
Annie
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Heartwarming and fun story。 There were some heavier themes I didn't expect from a middle school book。 I liked how all the seemingly random details came together at the end。 Heartwarming and fun story。 There were some heavier themes I didn't expect from a middle school book。 I liked how all the seemingly random details came together at the end。 。。。more
Michelle
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2。5 stars。
Jordil2
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Le daría un 3。6。 La historia es interesante， pero no acabó de engancharme y va de mejor a peor
Raisa
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Fun late elementary， early middle school book。 Definitely recommend for students who love science fiction and fantasy！
Maz °_°
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it doesn't matter what age this book is for， I think everyone should read it at once in their lifetime。 it's humorous but it also changes your perspective on things and reading it was a wonderful experience。 it doesn't matter what age this book is for， I think everyone should read it at once in their lifetime。 it's humorous but it also changes your perspective on things and reading it was a wonderful experience。 。。。more
Kyrie
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A little slow at times but overall， fun and creative。 The protagonist and the consequences of his time travelling are written very realistically。
Sarah
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Funny and entirely likable。
Adam Stevenson
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Time Travelling With a Hamster is a book aimed at late primary/early secondary school children and tells the story of what happens when a boy called Al receives a letter from his dead father leading him to a time machine that can undo his death。Al is an engaging character， resourceful but not omni-competent with a fondness for lists and order。 He’s worried he’s losing his memory of his dad and prepared to go to great lengths to engineer his survival from an accident。 His strongest relationship i Time Travelling With a Hamster is a book aimed at late primary/early secondary school children and tells the story of what happens when a boy called Al receives a letter from his dead father leading him to a time machine that can undo his death。Al is an engaging character， resourceful but not omni-competent with a fondness for lists and order。 He’s worried he’s losing his memory of his dad and prepared to go to great lengths to engineer his survival from an accident。 His strongest relationship is with his grandad Byron， who has an incredible memory， having written a book about ancient Indian memory techniques。 There’s also a well-meaning stepdad （who a felt a little sorry for）， a bratty stepsister （who wasn’t as mean as she seemed） a school bully （who doesn’t get much input） and his mum。The time machine in this book is a mathematical code which runs on a laptop and displaces a connected object， in this case an old bath， in space-time。 There’s a lot of fun in the book about the machine being such an unwieldy object， with Al either having to drag the bath around， or repeatedly breaking into the same house to access it。 The main time travel ‘rule’ in the book is that a person can’t travel to where they already are， a no doppelgänger rule。 The focus of the book being more about the relationships between the characters rather than the technicals of time travel itself。 This does mean Al gets to be friends with his dad as a child and travels to a horrifying time where he exists but his mum and dad have never met and he meets his mum where she has never met him。 It’s a scene which taps into a really strong childhood fear of having your parents not recognise you。Incidentally， the hamster is called Alan Shearer and he comes on the time travel adventures by accident， though does play one key part in the story。In terms of paradoxes， there’s one I questioned。 If Al only discovered and used the time machine to save his dad， if his dad is saved， then he never would have discovered the time machine。 The book does have an out for this - though I’m not sure it answers the question fully。 Ultimately it doesn’t matter， as the book is carried by the strong characters and their relationships and what the time travel does to them， then the mechanics of time travel itself。 。。。more
GG
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A great story
Ofer
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I marked it as a 'read-with-the-kids' novel but it went beyond their heads and they did not read it to completion。 I however loved it and will be looking for more of Ross Welford's books in the future。 I marked it as a 'read-with-the-kids' novel but it went beyond their heads and they did not read it to completion。 I however loved it and will be looking for more of Ross Welford's books in the future。 。。。more
Kate Jax
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 （Lee - aged 9）Good book。 A bit sad （I might have cried）。I liked the time travel - I can relate to the dad （except I haven’t died twice）。
Imogen
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I loved this book。 Was a very cute time travel story。 Loved the ending， the ending came to a good feel good finish。
Lucy
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It is an amazing book once you get into it， it takes a while to understand what is going on。 But it is a brilliant book。
Aanahita Arora
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It was a good book
Laura
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Eh。 A bit disappointing， to be honest。 And I had major issues with what Al was asked to do。
Jo Farrar
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My son （12 years old） read this and really enjoyed it so begged me to read it， this is a fabulous story， funny， sometimes a bit sad but heartwarming with lovely characters， would highly recommend for 11+
Billycongo
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There's nothing wrong with the technical aspects of the writing。 It's not a given these days。 The problem is that books have become a bit too much like movies。 The need for drama every 3 pages。 And it's written like a Patterson book with those fucking short chapters。 Everything is a catastrophe。 He uses the machine， but he must burn down the building。 When he goes to see his mom， his mom is married to a policeman， and the policeman calls the cops， and whew！ He barely escapes alive。 Fucking hell。 There's nothing wrong with the technical aspects of the writing。 It's not a given these days。 The problem is that books have become a bit too much like movies。 The need for drama every 3 pages。 And it's written like a Patterson book with those fucking short chapters。 Everything is a catastrophe。 He uses the machine， but he must burn down the building。 When he goes to see his mom， his mom is married to a policeman， and the policeman calls the cops， and whew！ He barely escapes alive。 Fucking hell。 。。。more
Emma
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A great story following Al who needs to travel time to save his dad with the help of his hamster Alan Shearer。An enjoyable book for the whole family。
Jade La Grange
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